This report informs wealth managers and their strategy teams of the key developments emerging across the industry and how best to respond to these changes. It examines key areas such as the trade wars emerging amid the actions of the Trump administration, evolving perceptions of ESG, the growing role of India within the wealth landscape, and the M&A outlook. The report identifies which booking centers and wealth markets will benefit from trade chaos and how all this uncertainty benefits wealth managers with lots of US revenue to spend on opportunistic acquisitions globally. Analysis is supported by findings from GlobalData’s propriety surveys.

Uncertainty and disruption are the likely hallmarks of 2025, which will shape both international and local wealth managers’ strategies throughout the year. In particular, uncertainty will force wealth managers to seek out more “sure things,” such as growth in India and cryptocurrency investment assets. Meanwhile, we will see slowing investment into booking centers exposed to the trade war; in addition, less affluent investors will suffer the effects of squeezed finances for longer.

Scope

• The key driver for many of the trends and issues in 2025 is the Donald Trump administration and its signature policy suite. It is not just the direct impacts of trade conflict as well as cryptocurrency promotion and deregulation that wealth managers must consider, but also the reaction that many regulators and policy-setters around the world will adopt in response.

• Faster growth in HNW investors will focus attention back on private clients. Meanwhile, slower growth in middle class wealth means expansion of wealth management services to emerging affluent and mass market investors will be confined to the rapidly developing markets of Asia-Pacific and the Middle East and Africa, led by India.

• This will be the year of explosive growth in cryptocurrency markets globally, not just the US. More new coins are expected to be launched, along with a greater array of financial products featuring crypto, drastically higher valuations for key crypto assets, as well as active participation from professional and instructional investors.

Key Highlights

ESG remains the top issue for wealth managers, but transition investing, while still in its infancy, is forecast to grow significantly too.

A desire for personalized products will support demand for direct indexing.

Demand for tokenized assets will grow, and providing access is a must.

Crypto funds are all the hype but concerns regarding the longevity of the bull run are surfacing.

Reasons to Buy

• Identify which investor segments will grow the strongest in 2025.

• Understand the top concerns for management teams at top competitors.

• Learn which booking centers will see an influx of money due to trade uncertainty.

• Help identify likely targets of M&A activity in the wealth management industry.